Cat Tails ... or ... How Can They Do That?
Posted: Monday, January 09, 2012
by Octavia Hansen
Octavia Hansen
I love cats. I have two. We are very happy together. They purr enough to tell me this is so. Cat minds are a mystery to people. Of course, most people are a mystery to most people and we're supposed to have so much more in common. There have been studies on cats but I think unless those studying cats are cat lovers, a lot of subtle observations are lost. Kind of like a person who does not love dogs, having to watch dogs for behavioral studies, will miss a lot of details. Let's face it, if you are not deeply interested in your subject, you won't pay it close attention.
I was observing one of my furry beasts as he was lying atop the couch positioned in front of the window for his viewing pleasure. Actually, it's for my seated pleasure when guests visit but he thinks it was for him. Let him dream on, what can it hurt? As I watched, the moving tail did a strange dance. His tail is not overly fuzzy which means it's easy to see the moving and flicking of said tail without distracting fur flying. It's a graceful action . . . smooth . . . deliberate . . . predictable patterns. As I watched, I became curious as to how it's done. What precisely has to move to make this motion? I see no twitching of hip or leg muscles . . . is the tail so contained as to have enough muscles for this action?
In comparison to an elephant's trunk, even though a trunk is both an upper lip and a nose, not to be confused with the small tail hanging limply down the posterior, the movements are similar. A trunk has more than 40,000 muscles in it -- more than a person has in their entire body. An elephant's trunk is strong and agile -- it can push down trees or pick up a single blade of grass. The motions are voluntary and with no bones involved, there is a snake-like grace to it. The muscles are in a designated area, the rest of the face doesn't move while the trunk is swinging about. If a cat were as big as an elephant, his tail would be longer than a trunk, more than twenty feet! Quite a tail to whip around!
Some animals, mostly primates, sport a prehensile tail, almost another arm or leg, with the ability to grasp and hold objects. Some monkeys are approximately the same size as cats, the monkey tail being much longer for that wrap around holding securely to tree branches. Cat tails can't wrap around anything but the balance is the same, what ever body part goes one way, there has to be an equal weight distribution the other way. Again, it's a mystery just how one would twitch posterior muscles to achieve this unique action.
Back to the tail at hand . . . a cat tail is an extension of the vertebrae -- the length and number determined by the breed and individual cats. Some, due to unforeseen circumstances, have lost the end of their tail to accidents -- losing the end of the tail probably saved the remainder of the animal. Serving as a painful reminder not to do THAT again. So it's muscles wrapped around these descending sized vertebrae, the cat uses to make these graceful lifts and falls, and general tail usage. No butt muscles required. The beginning of these movements is at the lower back and where the tail connects, meaning that the animal does not have to twitch to swish.
I look at the tail as an insight to general comfort state of mind. It's perfectly obvious that when cats fluff their tail, usually accompanied with the traditional back arching and claws extended, that they mean business -- approach with great caution. A delicately wavy tail means contentment -- usually also means keep up the petting. When cats put up with you but are not particularly enjoying whatever it is that's happening around them, the tail will rise and slap down abruptly. This is a warning sign that something better stop soon . . . either they will leave . . . or they will turn on you so you will leave. The message will be short and sharp when you get it. When it's waving around and they look like they are napping, don't be fooled -- they are still awake, just resting.
There is obviously more to reading a cat than a tail. There's more to reading anybody than just one body part or one movement. But I like to think, if I had a tail, something long and lovely like a cat tail, I'd use it a lot. I'd build my wardrobe around it. I'd swing that tail everywhere I went . . . at least as long as I'm not faced with a revolving door or a rocking chair. Me-ouch!
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